tomkoenig@mindspring.com Chevy Chase Maryland
I am interested in approaches to information technology that are intellectual, scientific and fun. I believe:
Systems are models of the world (Jackson).
Technologies are biological and emergent (Kay).
Micro and tacit process rather than macro and formal process are what we need to improve software development (Beck).
I would like to see all three perspectives prosper. Toward that end, I am attempting to become a competent Squeak programmer.
Why is Smalltalk worth learning?
Languages, natural and computer, die. A language is only as vital as the community that speaks it. Even enterprises with major investments and successes in Smalltalk are walking away from it. However, by working in the Squeak, you can to grow a community that you would want to be part of. A community where fundamental learning and progress are possible. (See http://atsosxdev.doit.wisc.edu/croquetdevelopment/) Where the profession not the corporation owns the means of development ;-) Any language which spawned Extreme Programming is worth learning.
My contributions to Squeak are rudimentary documentation and testing. For examples of documentation I'm working on see Tom Koenig's Rooks Nest and selfStudy For examples of the SUnit code, see the Kernal-Chronology-Tests category in the system browser. As of 3/2004, I'm helping maintain BVAF2.
"If business users were less shortsighted, Kay says, they would seek to create computer models of their companies and constantly simulate potential changes." dkirkpatrick@fortunemail.com http://www.fortune.com/fortune/fastforward/0,15704,661671,00.html
